THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 10, 1996 TAG: 9603100046
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
At 5:45 a.m. every weekday, Smart Start's vans begin rolling.
Covering Pasquotank County from end to end, making stops at rural bungalows and city public housing units, the vehicles help some 40 families get on with their lives each day.
Children are escorted to day care centers that are monitored and coordinated by the Pasquotank County Partnership for Children. Many of their parents, who can't afford transportation of their own, are dropped off at work or at school. In the afternoon, the families are reunited and helped home.
``Families are really excited about the transportation,'' partnership Executive Director Donna James-Whidbee said. ``Transportation is sorely needed in this county.
``We're happy that what we're doing is being used.''
The three-van system is just one feature ofPasquotank County's version of a statewide program to support children under 5.
The 2-year-old program, operating this fiscal year on $1.2 million in state money and supported by local governments and agencies, is moving toward its goal of creating a coordinated network to help preschool children get a good start in life.
On Tuesday, the partnership's transportation program will celebrate its beginning this winter with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Inter-County Public Transportation Authority office.
Friday is the official opening of the Pasquotank County Child Care Resource and Referral Center, a clearinghouse of information for parents and a training and support hub for about 21 regulated day care operations in the county.
And in May, officials hope to formally open a Family Resource Center, aimed at putting a host of services for struggling families under one roof in their communities.
The programs are coming on-line slower than local officials had hoped, primarily because approval from Raleigh has been delayed. Partnership Chairman Randy Keaton said proposals were submitted last April, and some were not approved until November.
In fact, officials are still waiting for someone in the capital to sign off on a renovation project at Edgewood Center offices that will house the new family and child care resource facilities.
``It's frustrating that it's taking so long to get the projects approved,'' said Keaton, also Pasquotank's county manager. ``But I think we're making good progress.''
The partnership is working to ensure the health and well-being of young children by providing help to struggling families.
One of the Family Resource Center's goals, new administrator Bob Bobulinski said, is to make parents ``feel like they're the best teachers by helping them learn to be the best teachers.''
Center staffers, some of whom will come from the parents' communities, will encourage parents to pursue GEDs and careers. It will also be a point of contact for the vast array of services available to needy families.
``Right now there's hundreds of programs all across Pasquotank County,'' Bobulinski said. ``The whole idea is to try to network those programs so people can go one-stop shopping.''
Smart Start's approach aims not just to help parents raise their children, but also to make sure children are cared for while parents are working or learning.
Nearly 900 Pasquotank County children spend time in regulated day care centers or homes, the ones the partnership monitors. That's about a quarter of the county's children under 6 years old, James-Whidbee said.
The Child Care Resource and Referral Center helps get parents of these children in touch with day care facilities. It also works to improve the quality of care by training day-care workers and subsidizing salaries to lure qualified caregivers.
The partnership on Saturday participated in a conference for child care directors in seven northeastern counties, said Mary Douglass, administrator of the resource and referral center. Workshops included information on working with parents, dealing with abuse and neglect and helping children prepare for kindergarten.
Partnership leaders are working on a budget for the next fiscal year, while at the same time trying to channel more than $600,000 in unused funds from the last two years into one-time projects for the county.
Among the planned projects are spending nearly $145,000 on computer equipment for day care and preschool programs, and about $380,000 on playground equipment to be spread throughout the county.
``We're excited,'' Whidbee said. ``We're a little behind our original schedule, but we're still moving forward.
``It's real important that we meet the needs of children in Pasquotank County.''
For more information on Smart Start, call 333-1233. by CNB